


Alma Pater

by MLMRed (MSW)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Ash is Red's son because I think it's cute, Family, M/M, No pokemon AU, Slow Burn, Teacher Green/Father Red, They're all regular animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-03 18:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8725471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MSW/pseuds/MLMRed
Summary: Being a single father is tough enough without developing a crush on one's son's teacher.[UPDATE: December 28th, 2016] Due to circumstances I do not want to address, I am unable to continue working on this or any other NamelessShipping fanfiction I have. I may at some point in the future continue this, but for now, it remains at a mild cliffhanger. I apologize for the inconvenience.]





	1. The Rat

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing a multichapter fic! Please comment/critique! Green's first name isn't mentioned during this first chapter because I personally don't think my elementary school teachers ever told me or my parents their first names. His name will show up in the later chapters though!

“Dad! Dad! Wake up! Wake up!” Red groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes as his son hopped on the bed. When he saw his father was awake, he quickly plopped down beside him.

“What is it, Ash?” Red signed slowly, still tired and a bit stiff. Ash grinned happily.

“Today’s my first day of fifth grade! Next year, I’m gonna be in middle school already! C’mon, Dad, you said you’d take me to school today!” Ash gushed, tugging at his father’s arm. Right. Red had promised his son he’d take him to school. Yet, his alarm hadn’t gone off, even though he usually woke up before Ash did. He glanced at the clock. 5:13 am. He turned back to his excited son, who he only now noticed had retrieved their pet rat.

“Kiddo, I’ll take you to school today,” he started, pausing to rub his eyes before continuing to sign, “but put Pikachu back and go back to sleep, it’s five in the morning.”

“But I wanna get there early,” Ash pouted, holding the rat close. The rat squeaked happily in the boy’s hands, and Red sighed. This was going to be a long day. After explaining that school didn’t start until eight thirty and they’d have plenty of time to get there, Red sent his son back to bed (although he highly doubted the boy would actually sleep), and plopped back in bed himself. His alarm went off far too soon for his liking; Red barely felt like he’d fallen back asleep before the annoying beeps sounded. His hypothesis that his son would stay awake was proved correct when he went to wake Ash and found the boy sitting on the floor playing with his rat. Red crossed his arms. Ash protested that he’d been too excited to sleep. His father sighed. As promised, he escorted his excitable son to school.

What Red hadn’t expected was that he’d have to meet his son’s homeroom teacher so soon. He’d gotten a voicemail from the school that Ash had detention and that his homeroom teacher wanted to speak with Red. Once Red actually listened to the voicemail, he made a mental note to tell that staff that  _ calling _ him wouldn’t do much good since he couldn’t exactly talk before rushing to the school. What the hell had Ash done?

As it turned out, what Ash had done was smuggle Pikachu to school. Red crossed his arms unhappily at his son as Ash’s (admittedly, rather handsome) teacher spoke.

“I’m sure you’re not too happy to meet like this, Mr. Ketchum, but I do think that this behavior needs to be addressed.” Red noted that the teacher looked almost comically uncomfortable. He was stiff and the left part of his lip seemed to be peeled and more chapped. Red assumed he must’ve had a habit of nervously biting them.  _ So, he’s a new teacher? He looks pretty young, and he seems tightly wound _ , Red thought to himself as the man spoke.

“You see, erm,” the teacher trailed off, brushing brunette bangs out of his chocolate brown eyes: “one second.”

He rose from his chair, turning to the drawers behind his desk and shuffling through them. Red looked down at his son, who was attempting to hide his face behind Pikachu. Glancing back at the teacher, he pursed his lips as he realized the other man had bent down to search the lower drawers.  _ It should be illegal for jeans to be that tight _ , Red thought, though he enjoyed the view greatly. The dark blue jeans clung almost too perfectly to the curves of the other man’s hips and ass, and Red reminded himself that he was supposed to be being disappointed in his son, not admiring his son’s teacher’s bangin’ ass (Red made a mental note to never even think the words “bangin’ ass” ever again). The teacher let out an annoyed sigh, straightening up again. He muttered something under his breath and took a seat again.

“Mr. Oak…?” Ash nervously piped up, “did you find what you were looking for?”

“ _ Does it look like-- _ ” Mr. Oak took a breath, cutting himself off. “No. But that doesn’t matter. Ash, you can’t bring your pet to school, do you understand?”

“But I don’t want him to be all alone! He doesn’t like being stuck in a cage all day!” Ash protested, but his father put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a disappointed look. Red didn’t need to sign to get his point across, and his son pouted.

“Mr. Ketchum, I do hope we don’t have to meet again like this,” the teacher spoke stiffly, almost like he was bracing himself to be yelled at.  _ Poor guy, he thinks I’m gonna yell at him for getting my kid in trouble _ . Mr. Oak continued: “if something like this happens again, I’m going to have to give Ash detention.”

Red nodded in agreement, giving his son another disappointed look.  _ You had one job, Ash _ , Red mentally groaned,  _ and that was to avoid trouble _ . Alas, trouble was drawn to his son like a magnet, or a cat to a mouse. The child looked up with big apologetic eyes, and Red sighed. The teacher looked rather perplexed at the father and son.

“... Do… Do you have anything to say, Mr. Ketchum...?”

“Dad doesn’t talk.” Ash stated rather matter-of-factly. Red confirmed this with a nod.

“I see. Regardless, as long as you can prevent this from happening again, that's all I need.”

Red felt his heart race when the teacher’s soft hand joined his in a rather professional handshake. He suppressed the feeling, looking away as the other man gave him a friendly grin.


	2. Pretty Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Green get into contact in a very strange and unexpected way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never used Grindr, so I formatted Green's tiny bio off of screenshots I've seen.

Red grounded his son, although he was sympathetic and Ash’s puppy dog eyes were impossible to resist, so the sentence was reduced from an admittedly harsh two months without TV or games to two weeks. Flopping on his bed, Red stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before pulling out his phone. Nothing was nearby on Pokémon GO, no new cats had stopped by in Neko Atsume, his email was empty, and the news yielded nothing interesting. He pursed his lips, looking around as though he was a child trying to steal something before tapping the Grindr icon. Fine. He was lonely. He was a working, single dad who had little time for a social life, of course he’d get a little lonely from time to time. He flicked through the nearby men. He wasn’t looking for a quick lay; he craved someone to at least talk to and perhaps flirt with. Someone caught his eye. He blinked, making sure he was seeing right. It was a profile picture of a handsome man and a bright orange Shiba. The man had auburn hair and milk chocolate brown eyes. The man also looked exactly like his son’s teacher. Red scanned the profile.

  
“Age: 27  
Race: Japanese-French  
Status: Single

  
Yo, my name’s Green Oak! I’m a teacher but I don't have kids of my own. The rascal besides me in my pic is my dog, Arcanine. I’m bi and I'm not looking for a quickie/casual sex/any of that. I’m looking for a nice guy to flirt with and maybe get drinks with. HMU if that's you! Smell ya later!”

  
Red’s mouth felt dry. This was definitely Ash’s cute teacher. He pressed the message button. He thought for a moment. What was he even supposed to say?  
“hey, ur my sons 5th grade teacher, rite??”  
Smooth, Red, he hit himself against the forehead with the palm of his hand. He quickly sent another message.  
“sorry that was weird lol uh it's just a bit odd coming across u on here. sorry abt ashs rat btw”  
“Wow, this is awkward. And at least I have an interesting story to tell, I suppose.”  
Red blinked. He hadn't noticed that the other man was online.  
“so ur name is green?? like 4 real?”  
“‘Red Ketchum’ isn't exactly the least cheesy of names either, pal.”  
“wasn't tryna make fun of u lol. ur green & im red,,, mayb f8 wanted us 2 meet,,, opposites attract lmao”  
“I feel like I'm deciphering the Rosetta Stone… The Rosetta Stone of teenage txt talk to actual articulate language.”  
“‘actual articul8 language’: what, like this?”  
“Much better.”  
“You’re lucky you’re cute.”  
“I prefer handsome, dashing, stunning, radiant, etc.”  
“Pardon, cute but cocky.”  
“Big talk from the guy who used the line ‘opposites attract.’”  
Red began typing again, happily continuing the playful banter before he was interrupted by another message from Green.  
“Wait… We’re the same age?!”  
“I’m not exactly a cougar, so yeah.”  
“‘Cougar’? That implies you have romantic or sexual intentions. You have an interesting way of flirting with cute boys. And I'm only saying ‘cute’ because you said it.”  
“Who says I'm flirting?”  
“‘opposites attract’”  
“That was a joke and you know it, pretty boy.”  
“If you say so. I gotta get to sleep, but it was actually kinda nice chatting with you… you should hit me up again sometime.”  
“Sleep well.”  
“You too, pretty boy.”  
Red smirked momentarily at the repetition of his weak compliment/insult, but most of his focus was on Green’s request--no, demand to be spoken with again. His heartbeat quickened and he sighed. It was probably a friendly gesture, he reasoned. But as he prepared himself for bed and settled in for the night, a growing part of him hoped it was more than that.


	3. The Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red runs into Green in a rather unexpected and unplanned way.

As he walked home grasping two paper grocery bags, Red was extremely thankful that he lived within walking distance of the grocery store. He could drive, of course, but it seemed like a waste of gas money since he could just walk. Besides, he didn't want to wake up Ash so early on the weekend, the boy was tired out after an exciting first week of school (Red didn’t understand what was so exhilarating about worksheets and figuring out classmate names, but he listened intently to his son’s gushing). He checked his watch. 7:30 am. Ash won’t be up for another hour or so, then, he thought to himself, though before he completed the thought, he found himself rushed by a blur of fur and barking. Instinctively, he took a step back, and thankfully, the dogs stopped short of knocking him over, instead circling around him, their tails wagging happily. Mostly confused, Red cocked his head at the two dogs, holding his groceries a bit closer out of slight worry, but looking at them mostly with curiosity and confusion. One dog was much smaller than the other, a pomeranian, Red evaluated. The other dog was a much larger Shiba with bright orange fur. Both dogs were dragging their leashes behind them, and Red didn't know whether to laugh at or pity the poor dog owner whose grasp obviously lost this battle of wills. He heard a shout.  
“Arcanine! Eevee! Get back here!”  
One dog name and the voice seemed familiar, and he felt his heart sink as it registered before the other man came into view.   
“I’m so sorry, I don't know what got into them…” Green grabbed the leashes and looked up, trailing off as he actually saw the man in front of him. Awkwardly, Red gave him a small wave, which was rather difficult carrying two grocery bags. Neither man knew what to make of the situation, though the dogs still seemed intent on pawing at Red’s jeans. Red cocked his head again as he looked at the dogs. They obviously wanted something from him, but he couldn’t figure out what. If they broke away from Green, the man began reasoning, then they must have smelled something, perhaps? Green futilely struggled to tug his dogs away; the Pomeranian was easily restrained, but the large Shiba was a different story. Had it not been for the two bags in both hands, Red would have slapped his forehead at the obviousness of the cause. He knelt down, Green curiously watching as Red set down the bags. The dogs sniffed intently and Red had to push the Shiba back as he fished around in the bag before pulling out a bag of dog treats. The dogs’ eyes followed the bag as he slowly moved it. So that’s what wanted. That makes sense.  
“You have dogs too?” Green looked at him quizzically, “you don't seem much like a dog person.”  
“I’m a veterinarian. I got those for our good patients.” Red signed, hoping Green understood.   
“Well, I guess I'm glad I took that sign language course in college… So, you’re a vet? That’s pretty cool.”  
“It’s not a bad job, but it has long hours.” Red smiled as the dogs happily grinned at their owner, now that he had the treats. Of course, Red couldn't help but snark. “You should train them to stop on command.”  
“You should train your son not to bring his pet to class. Guess we all have parental flaws.” Green snarked back in a heartbeat, and Red couldn't help but laugh a wheezy laugh.  
“Good point.” Red gathered his bags off the ground, standing back up again. Green pursed his lips, looking away as though he had something to say.  
“I know you can't exactly respond right now, but you're actually kinda cool. Um. Thanks for the dog treats.” Green gave him a small smile before tugging the dogs’ collars and turning back to where they’d been walking before. Red watched him quietly, hoping for his own sake that he hadn’t blushed at a weak complement like “kinda cool.” He pushed the thought from his mind. Right now, he had to get back home before Ash woke up, because like hell was he going to leave his son home alone any longer if he could help it. He resumed his walk home, and though his primary thought was on getting back home to his son, the thought that he should message Green tugged at the back of his mind for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! So much new info in a short chapter! More about Red's job will be talked about in the future and Ash will be more involved in later chapters; for now, I'm just beginning to set Red and Green up. Also yeah it's unadvisable to leave your kid home alone but Ash is starting to get to the age where he can be home alone for a short amount of time.


	4. Playing Hooky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash gets a role in the school play while his dad sneaks off with his teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be vaguely angsty but I really don't want to write angst. I just want them to slowly fall in love, damn it. ALSO I know Red uses plenty of words that don't exist in ASL but they're usually bridging words (like "be" verbs and such) and they're added to make it easier to read- I know it's improper. If you, the readers, would prefer I wrote Red's ASL as it would actually be translated, I could start doing that, but I'm going to leave it as is for now because as I said, it's easier to read. Thank you for understanding!

One day, Red was going to figure out a way to resist his son’s big puppy dog eyes. Today, however, was not that day. Pallet Elementary was holding its first-ever play, and Ash wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. Red hadn’t even known his son had any sort of interest in theater, and when he asked Ash about it the boy confirmed the suspicion.

  
“Then why do you want to be in the play?”

  
“I wanna be the prince who talks to animals, because talking to animals is cool!” Ash exclaimed excitedly, giving Pikachu, who was perched on his shoulder, a pat on the head. “I wonder what Pikachu thinks sometimes. I can understand how he feels usually, but I’ll never be able to actually talk to him. But at least I can pretend I can! And, maybe Mr. Oak will let me bring Pikachu back to school if I'm the prince who talks to animals!”

  
“No. You’re not bringing Pikachu to school again.” Red frowned. “Not only will it get you in trouble, but it may stress him out if you do that and he might get badly hurt while you’re at school.”

  
His son pouted at him, but nodded, looking back down at his DS. Ash perked back up again after a few minutes of silence and Red knew that meant trouble.

  
“Dad! Could you help me get the sets ready for the play? They need parents to help—please?” There were the puppy dog eyes Red couldn't say no to. Besides, the request didn’t seem like too much trouble, and as long as he could leave in time for the night shift, it probably wouldn’t be a huge hassle.

  
The first thing Red learned that night was that he had been very wrong. The paint was so thin that it required almost five coats to cover anything, not to mention the frequent spills of said paint from the cans being bumped into or tripped over.  
The second thing Red learned was that Mr. Oak looked absolutely adorable covered in paint. He hadn't expected the teacher to help at all in this effort, and from the looks of it, it seemed he was strong-armed into it by the art teacher, Sabrina. The woman frankly scared Red, and she seemed to read his mind in lieu of his hands whenever he went to ask her anything, answering before the sentence was even complete. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Green very huffily walking away from the woman like he'd lost an argument before he picked up a paintbrush and contributed to the effort. Red kept his distance, not wanting to come off as creepy; sure his son was in the play, but he’d had enough strange run-ins with Green that he was fairly certain the other may accuse him of being a stalker. Which of course he wasn’t, but he did want to avoid the title. Green hadn't noticed him yet, too busy concentrating on the scene he was painting. The paint stained his fingertips and his face every time he unknowingly touched his cheek. His tight jeans and dress shirt were splashed by clumsy parents spilling paint, and Red giggled at the sudden dishevelment of the arguably vain teacher. Pulling himself away from the sight, he focused on painting the forest set. The deep, dark shades of emerald and the soft, almost pastel mint strokes brought the trees to life; the lighting of this set making it appear as though the trees were glowing softly. He couldn't help but think of the man and not the color. As if on cue, said man approached him, kneeling down in front of the sitting Red.

  
“Yo, you wanna play hooky? I know painting sets is totally enthralling and all, but I think I have more than enough colors on my pants and a stack of papers to grade. If you wanna come with me, I’d appreciate the company.”

“So even the ice prince gets lonely.”

“Are you coming or not?"

  
Red eagerly nodded. Satisfied, Green straightened back up, watching Sabrina carefully as the pair made their escape. They walked down the haphazard children’s scribbles-clad halls in comfortable silence. Red absentmindedly peeled paint off of his fingers, checking his watch while he was looking at his hands anyways. He still had plenty of time before his shift, and Ash was practicing his lines with the other students. He almost ran into Green when the other man stopped. Right, this must’ve been his classroom. Red examined the wall beside the door. Green’s classroom was the door on the left, labeled as “Room 08” with a green sheet of paper above it declaring “Viridian” in neat calligraphy. _Viridian?_ Red pondered this. _Do they have a color theme?_ He turned his attention to the door on the right. Room 07, “Cinnabar” was written on a red sheet of paper in different, much sloppier handwriting than the Viridian card. _I guess they do. Weird color choices though_.

  
“I’m sure the wall is super interesting, but the door is open, just so y’know.” Mr. Oak leaned against his open classroom door, arms folded across his chest idly. He swayed slightly back and forth, bumping the door.

  
“Why ‘viridian’?” Red decided he hated this naming pattern since he was forced to begrudgingly sign every letter of “viridian” because it wasn’t a word in sign language. Green squinted his eyes, concentrating on the spelling.

  
“V-i-r-i-d-i-a-n? Oh, viridian. Right. I dunno, it's just how they decided to label the rooms. I guess it’s less forgettable than just ‘green room.’ And don’t make a joke about my name and my room’s name either I get enough hassle from the other staff. Just get in the damn Viridian Room.”  
Red giggled again at how huffy the teacher got at even the idea of Red teasing him. He followed the teacher into the room, watching the other man carefully. Green sauntered over to his desk nonchalantly, flopping down on what looked like a really comfortable desk chair. I bet his lap is more comfortable, though. Red immediately shut down that line of thought, instead sitting down on one of the student desks that sat before Green’s. The teacher seemed vaguely annoyed at the other man sitting on the desk, but held his tongue, focusing on the tests he had to grade. Another comfortable silence settled between them. It gave Red a chance to benignly study the other man, which he gladly took advantage of. Green graded using a pen the same color as his namesake, and left short notes of either congratulations or encouragement on every test. He brushed his auburn bangs out of his eyes every minute or so, only for said bangs to fall back into place and the process to repeat. Freckles of yellow and blue paint decorated his cheeks. A rather large splatter of blue caught Red’s attention, and without thinking he approached. The teacher looked up at him in understandable confusion.

  
“You have paint on your cheek.” Red explained before reaching out and gently peeling the paint off, rubbing the spot with his thumb. Green’s cheeks bloomed rosy.

  
“Ah, thank you.” He responded simply, though he leaned against Red’s palm for a moment before pulling back. The silence settled once more like dust, but the gentle pink tint didn't leave Green’s cheeks, not even when the time came for Red to leave. The teacher let slip a frown of disappointment, quickly covering it up with a facade of dismissiveness. Red gave him a soft smile before leaving. There was a silent understanding that they enjoyed one another’s company. _Perhaps_ , Red daydreamed as he walked down the hallway once more to retrieve Ash, _we’ll get another chance to be together soon_.


	5. Teeth and Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash loses a tooth and Red gets a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to write fluffy family stuff honestly. Also, I'm sick right now so this may not be the best written...

All Red wanted to do was crash into bed. It’d been a long night of work. It started with a woman whose cat had gotten into a fight and needed five stitches and ended only a while ago a man with frazzled wavy brown hair frantically rushed his puppy to the clinic because the dog had swallowed a metal bottle cap and started coughing up blood. Red groaned. No. He was tired, and the last thing he wanted to think about was stitches or internal bleeding or the slew of minor injuries he and his co-workers had to treat. After hanging his coat in the closet and setting his car keys on the counter, Red ghosted upstairs, only to run into an unfamiliar sight. Ash stood at the end of the hallway near his room in his pajamas happily clutching his rat. Internally Red groaned, but externally he cocked his head at his son as he approached him. Ash explained himself before his father could ask, absentmindedly stroking Pikachu as he did.

  
“My tooth came out, so I waited for you to come home to show you!”

  
Ash held Pikachu in one hand, digging through his pajama pants pocket before producing the tooth. Red raised an eyebrow at him.  
“How long have you been awake?”

  
“Not that long, really!” Ash huffed, frowning. Pikachu repeated Ash’s frustration with an angry-sounding squeak. Red ruffled Ash’s hair.  
“Put the tooth under your pillow and get to sleep, kiddo.”

  
And just like that, the childish excitement returned to his son’s eyes. Red smiled softly. Ash was still young enough to buy into stuff like the Tooth Fairy, and Red was just happy to see his son excited and giddy. Even if he was dead tired, he’d gladly stay up a bit longer to swap the tooth for a dollar bill. Ash happily returned to his room after his dad reminded him to put Pikachu back before sleeping.

  
Red ghosted into his own room. He checked the clock on his phone as he plugged it in. 5:07 am. He internally groaned again. _At some point, when Ash is older, I’m gonna take the damn day shift and sleep like a normal human_. Sometimes, he wondered why he didn’t. He could trust Ash to be alone for an hour or two after school. But he also wanted to be there for his son as often as he could. Suppressing the thought, Red changed into his own pajamas and sat on the edge of the bed. It’d take Ash a while to fall asleep, so Red had to kill some time before he could sneakily keep his son’s excitement about the Tooth Fairy alive. He reflected on the events of the day before he’d gone to work. The memory of quietly spending time with Green resurfaced and his heart fluttered. Out of all the other parents, Green had singled him out. Green blushed when he touched his cheek. Back-pedal. He’d touched Green’s cheek. Sure, it was just to wipe off paint, but it was intimate nonetheless. His pulse raced. Impulsively, he picked up his phone and unlocked it. Him and Green still chatted on Grindr, maybe the other man had said something while he was at work. Indeed, he had.

  
“Yo, you wanna go out for coffee sometime? I don’t have anything better to do this weekend.”  
Red felt like he was choking on his heart. He swallowed, but it did nothing to stop himself from feeling like his heart was in his throat. _You’re acting like you’re a teenager with a first crush_ , he chastised himself. Alas, he responded happily.

  
“That’d be really nice. Sorry for the late response, I was at work ( ´△｀; )”  
To his utter surprise, Green responded nearly immediately (not that Red was going to complain about his crush replying instantly to him).  
“You work this late?”  
“You’re up this late?”  
“I have good reason! I’m an insomniac.”  
“And I’m a single dad.”  
“Touché. Also, I wouldn't have pegged you as the type to use cutesy emoticons.”  
“☆〜（ゝ。∂）There's a lot you may not know about me.”  
“Well, maybe I’ll find out more over coffee.”  
“I’m glad you’ve taken to asking me out instead of mocking my text talk habits lol.”  
“I’ll let the emoticons slide. They're cute. Also, it’s totally not a date. Just y’know. Two guys going out for coffee.”  
“Yeah, okay. And when/where do you want to meet for our not-a-date?”  
“I believe the French call it a rendezvous. Meet me at 10:00 on Saturday at that coffee shop near the school?”  
“I’ll be there, but isn’t a rendezvous a date in French slang?”  
“Not a date. Just sharing some coffee and time. It’d be a date if one of us say brought the other flowers perhaps.”  
“Uh huh. And that's definitely not something I should do because it's not a date.”  
“Totally. Definitely not carnations; you definitely shouldn't bring me carnations for our not date.”

  
Red snickered quietly. Green managed to weasel his way into getting flowers. He could oblige the other man on that since it was Green who asked him out. Green went on to ramble about work and Red only added a few comments, enjoying listening to the other man (even if he wasn’t listening so much as reading text off a screen). He only broke away from the pleasant conversation when he noticed the time and deduced that Ash would be asleep. He wished Green good night. Green reminded him of their not-date before reluctantly saying goodbye. Smiling as he ghosted to his son’s room, Red slowly swapped the tooth and the dollar, adjusted the blankets Ash had tossed around in his sleep, and ghosted out. Nothing could go wrong that day, because on Saturday, he had a date.

 


End file.
